Rebellious Nevada rancher's racist remarks dim Republican support

(Reuters) - Two Republican senators who voiced support for a Nevada cattleman in his showdown with federal agents over grazing rights on public land condemned recent remarks by the rebellious rancher musing about whether African-Americans would be “better off as slaves.”

A day after Cliven Bundy’s comments about “the Negro” and government subsidies were published in The New York Times, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky issued a statement saying the rancher’s “remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him.”

Paul, a libertarian and presumed 2016 Republican presidential contender, has expressed sympathy for Bundy’s cause and for the resentment harbored by many political conservatives in the West against what they view as overreaching by Washington.

A spokeswoman for Senator Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican who has called Bundy’s supporters patriots, said in a statement that Heller “completely disagrees with Mr. Bundy’s appalling and racist statements, and condemns them in the most strenuous way.”

The 76-year-old rancher, from Bunkerville, Nevada, became a symbol for conservative Republicans, particularly among the Tea Party movement, for his actions in defying the federal Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the U.S. Interior Department.

The dispute dates back to 1993 when Bundy stopped paying monthly fees the government charges ranchers to allow their cattle to roam federal range lands.

Saying Bundy owes more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees and had ignored court orders to remove his cattle from public land, the BLM sent armed rangers to Bundy’s ranch earlier this month to round up his cattle by force.

Anti-government groups, gun rights activists and right-wing militia members rallied to Bundy’s defense. Following a brief armed stand-off, the government backed down, canceled its roundup and released the cattle that had been seized.

Bundy’s supporters hailed the outcome as a victory over government overreach. Detractors, including Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, have called Bundy an outlaw.

RACIST REMARKS

During a small gathering last Saturday at his ranch, Bundy, in remarks quoted by The New York Times and captured on video footage posted online, shared his views on race, which he said were informed in part by a drive he had taken past a public housing project in the city of North Las Vegas.

“I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro,” Bundy began, as he recounted seeing a group of “older people and kids” sitting idle in an open doorway of the building.

“They didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do,” he said.

“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?” he asked. “They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”

Supporters were quick to defend Bundy on a Facebook site managed by his family on Thursday. One post on the page, which showed more than 89,700 backers, dismissed the Times’ account as “new rumors,” suggesting Bundy’s comments had been distorted.

“Cliven is a good man, he loves all people, he is not a racist man. He wants what is best for everyone,” the post said.

Bundy himself stood by his remarks in a guest appearance on the “Peter Schiff Show” radio program, and repeated his views.

“That’s exactly what I said,” he replied when asked about the comments. “In my mind, I’m wondering, ‘Are they better off being slaves, in that sense, or better off being slaves to the United States government, in the sense of subsidies. ... And that statement was right. I am wondering.”